Description
Live Forever is a film about a period in the Nineties when anything seemed possible. Britain was of a time, of a people, of a place, which captured the world’s imagination. A bright new culture deserved a bright new government. And it seemed, for a little while at least, that Britain had one. Live Forever is a story that builds to that moment in the Nineties when the politicians recognized the emergence of a vibrant British popular culture and seized it, guerrilla-fashion… More >>
I was in college when the Brit Pop phenomena hit. But I was a snob back then, deeply involved in my college radio station and turning my nose up at this tripe. Oh that was just too mainstream and commercial for ME to like! Of course I’ve since matured, and I gave Brit Pop a chance since then, and this documentary taught me a few things I otherwise didn’t know.
There is a curious phenomena that takes place between America and the UK in terms of pop culture. One gentleman made a comment about a pendulum swing back and forth between the two, and that is certainly true now that I think about it. I had heard of The Stone Roses, but they never caught on with avengence here. Then, of course, Nirvana happened and eclipsed everything else. After Kurt died in 94, Oasis began to rise and the UK’s “grunge years” began. I heard stories about all the kids in the UK chasing after Oasis and their packed, sold out shows, and a new chapter began.
This documentary concentrates mostly on the Gallagher brothers. Noel is far more well spoken than Liam (but everyone knows that because I don’t think he’s spent nearly as much time pickling himself), everything Noel said seemed to have more meaning behind it. They interviewed a few more people, such as Damien from Blur and the guy from Pulp. Damien seems like a real downer, they should’ve given the guy from Pulp more of a say as he seemed a little more animated than Blur. I liked the Beatles vs. Rolling Stones – type rivalry established against Blur and Oasis (seeing whose album would hit #1 first), but you can tell that they really weren’t interested and it was a creation by the press. Plus, you got the impression that London was swinging again like the mods in the 60s.
It is a little ironic that they too fell into the same traps that we did in America with the death of grunge. Heroin too had them in their grasp (referencing Blur’s song “BeetleBum”, as it was supposed to be about heroin). And, a celebrity death ended their trip as well (ours was Kurt’s, theirs was Princess Diana).
Here it is 10 years later. Blur and Pulp seem to have gone the way of the dodo, but Oasis is still around. They’re not the hot phenomena they were, but they continue to make music and seem to have staying power (when they’re not fighting or drunk/high). Now Coldplay seems to be the one leading the Brit Pop charge. Maybe they will, in fact, live forever.
Rating: 4 / 5
Noel and Liam and Jarvis are f*&king hilarious…Damon needs to off himself…same with the weirdo journalist with the upper-class accent…this video is good at making Britpop seem like an actual period in music…hahahahaha…whatever…besides, everyone knows Radiohead and Prodigy were quite accepted in the U.S. and were very original…Oasis is an awesome, lethal rock n roll band, anyone who loves rock n roll have to love Oasis…don’t cheat yourself…
Rating: 5 / 5
I rented it at Hollywood video. I was born in 1984 and am hip on and off. I liked it because I knew virtually nothing about what the movie was about, didn’t know at all about the Stone Roses, much about Blur or enough about Oasis and nothing about Pulp. For a Brit this DVD is probably a complete recourse and a waste of time. For an American who was 10 or 11 in 1995, it is probably fascinating.
Rating: 4 / 5
I hate people who complain that films don’t have enough of some element, some band who they want to see. There are enough Oasis, Blur and Pulp videos out there to catch up on. There is John Harris’ Britpop book. Britpop WAS a media invention. It is a tired subject. But it did happen. It is essential to talk about the Blur vs. Oasis thing at some point. I feel that this film succeeded at some point. There are another hour of interviews with the bands as a bonus. If you don’t like this film, make your own. It will probably suck. It will probably have a thousand close shots of Jarvis Cocker. That is just fandom. That is monomania. That is not narrative filmmaking.
Rating: 5 / 5
it does capture the essence of the era…that being the 80s-90s of the brit pop/rock era. its a cliffnote version of the times with the well noted stars of the brit music business, noel and liam gallagher(luv ya blokes) as usual are dead on and funny as hell, damon of blur, the guy from pulp(too ugly to remember his name) and many more. i gave it 4 stars because it was an in depth look at the rise and fall of “swinging london and reigning brit rock” interesting, but i must say i took away that 5th star because they booed at all the american music…giving the impression that all of british rock was superior, when all of it is not…i’ve heard alot of brit music and i must admit alot of it is good and alot of it is rubbish as well. overall my 4 stars recommend this film to music lovers.
Rating: 4 / 5